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Articles 1 - 30 of 45
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Ocean Temperatures Do Not Account For A Record-Setting Winter In The U.S. West, Matthew D. Laplante, Liping Deng, Luthiene Dalanhese, Shih-Yu Wang
Ocean Temperatures Do Not Account For A Record-Setting Winter In The U.S. West, Matthew D. Laplante, Liping Deng, Luthiene Dalanhese, Shih-Yu Wang
Journalism and Communication Faculty Publications
The record-setting winter of 2022–2023 came as an answer to both figurative and literal prayers for political leaders, policy makers, and water managers reliant on snowpacks in the Upper Colorado River Basin, a vital source of water for tens of millions of people across the Western United States. But this “drought-busting” winter was not well-predicted, in part because while interannual patterns of tropical ocean temperatures have a well-known relationship to precipitation patterns across much of the American West, the Upper Colorado is part of a liminal region where these connections tend to be comparatively weak. Using historical sea surface temperature …
Precipitation Is A Strong Predictor Of Airborne Ammonia Levels., Bridger Jorgensen, Casey Olson, Connor Snow
Precipitation Is A Strong Predictor Of Airborne Ammonia Levels., Bridger Jorgensen, Casey Olson, Connor Snow
Research on Capitol Hill
USU senior Connor has lived in the Uintah Basin all his life and studies kinesiology. Senior Casey, a Cache Valley native, studies climate science and works at the Utah Climate Center. Junior Bridger, also of Cache Valley, studies nutrition science. They led and funded this project through a student grant. Casey was alarmed by the ammonia data he was collecting at the Climate Center. “I immediately began to wonder how this issue would evolve over the coming decades.” The three teamed up to take a look at how Logan’s record-breaking amount of ammonia in our air is impacting those who …
Pacific Decadal Oscillation Remotely Forced By The Equatorial Pacific And The Atlantic Oceans, Zachary F. Johnson, Yoshimitsu Chikamoto, Shih-Yu Simon Wang, Michael J. Mcphaden, Takashi Mochizuki
Pacific Decadal Oscillation Remotely Forced By The Equatorial Pacific And The Atlantic Oceans, Zachary F. Johnson, Yoshimitsu Chikamoto, Shih-Yu Simon Wang, Michael J. Mcphaden, Takashi Mochizuki
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the leading mode of Pacific decadal sea surface temperature variability, arises mainly from combinations of regional air-sea interaction within the North Pacific Ocean and remote forcing, such as from the tropical Pacific and the Atlantic. Because of such a combination of mechanisms, a question remains as to how much PDO variability originates from these regions. To better understand PDO variability, the equatorial Pacific and the Atlantic impacts on the PDO are examined using several 3-dimensional partial ocean data assimilation experiments conducted with two global climate models: the CESM1.0 and MIROC3.2m. In these partial assimilation experiments, …
Creative Citizen Science Illuminates Complex Ecological Responses To Climate Change, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Amanda S. Gallinat, Richard B. Primack
Creative Citizen Science Illuminates Complex Ecological Responses To Climate Change, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Amanda S. Gallinat, Richard B. Primack
Biology Faculty Publications
Climate change is causing the timing of key behaviors (i.e., phenology) to shift differently across trophic levels and among some interacting organisms (e.g., plants and pollinators, predators and prey), suggesting that interactions among species are being disrupted (1, 2). Studying the phenology of interactions, however, is difficult, which has limited researchers’ ability to zero in on changes in specific interactions or on the consequences of mismatches. In PNAS, Hassall et al. (3) use a combination of citizen science techniques to investigate the effects of climate change on dozens of specific interactions. They focus on a Batesian mimicry complex involving stinging …
The Influence Of Arctic Amplification On Mid-Latitude Summer Circulation, Dim Coumou, Giorgia Di Capua, Steve Vavrus, Lei Wang, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
The Influence Of Arctic Amplification On Mid-Latitude Summer Circulation, Dim Coumou, Giorgia Di Capua, Steve Vavrus, Lei Wang, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Accelerated warming in the Arctic, as compared to the rest of the globe, might have profound impacts on mid-latitude weather. Most studies analyzing Arctic links to mid-latitude weather focused on winter, yet recent summers have seen strong reductions in sea-ice extent and snow cover, a weakened equator-to-pole thermal gradient and associated weakening of the mid-latitude circulation. We review the scientific evidence behind three leading hypotheses on the influence of Arctic changes on mid-latitude summer weather: Weakened storm tracks, shifted jet streams, and amplified quasi-stationary waves. We show that interactions between Arctic teleconnections and other remote and regional feedback processes could …
Natural And Managed Watersheds Show Similar Responses To Recent Climate Change, Darren L. Ficklin, John T. Abatzoglou, Scott M. Robeson, Sarah E. Null, Jason H. Knouft
Natural And Managed Watersheds Show Similar Responses To Recent Climate Change, Darren L. Ficklin, John T. Abatzoglou, Scott M. Robeson, Sarah E. Null, Jason H. Knouft
Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications
Changes in climate are driving an intensification of the hydrologic cycle and leading to alterations of natural streamflow regimes. Human disturbances such as dams, land-cover change, and water diversions are thought to obscure climate signals in hydrologic systems. As a result, most studies of changing hydroclimatic conditions are limited to areas with natural streamflow. Here, we compare trends in observed streamflow from natural and human-modified watersheds in the United States and Canada for the 1981–2015 water years to evaluate whether comparable responses to climate change are present in both systems. We find that patterns and magnitudes of trends in median …
Regional Trends In Early-Monsoon Rainfall Over Vietnam And Ccsm4 Attribution, Rong Li, S.-Y. Simon Wang, Robert R. Gillies, Brendan Buckley, Jin-Ho Yoon, Changrae Cho
Regional Trends In Early-Monsoon Rainfall Over Vietnam And Ccsm4 Attribution, Rong Li, S.-Y. Simon Wang, Robert R. Gillies, Brendan Buckley, Jin-Ho Yoon, Changrae Cho
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The analysis of precipitation trends for Vietnam revealed that early-monsoon precipitation has increased over the past three decades but to varying degrees over the northern, central and southern portions of the country. Upon investigation, it was found that the change in early-monsoon precipitation is associated with changes in the low-level cyclonic airflow over the South China Sea and Indochina that is embedded in the large-scale atmospheric circulation associated with a “La Niña-like” anomalous sea surface temperature pattern with warming in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans and cooling in the eastern Pacific. The Community Climate System Model version 4 (CCSM4) …
Multidecadal Variability In The Subseasonal Peak Of Low-Level Convergence Over The Pacific Warm Pool, Yen-Heng Lin, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Multidecadal Variability In The Subseasonal Peak Of Low-Level Convergence Over The Pacific Warm Pool, Yen-Heng Lin, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
In the Western North Pacific (WNP), the atmospheric low-level convergence is one of the main factors that influences the genesis of tropical cyclones (TC). It has been observed that the timing of the seasonal maxima in the low-level convergence and TC genesis has shifted since the mid-1990s from mid-August to late-July, with this shift having also affected the number of TC. A multidecadal frequency of 20 years was revealed in the timing variation of the tropical intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) in the Western Pacific, in which a weak WNP low-level convergence in spring may trigger an advanced ISO phase in summer …
Gridded Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction For Utah Using Forest Inventory And Analysis Tree-Ring Data, Daniel Barandiaran, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. Justin Derose
Gridded Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction For Utah Using Forest Inventory And Analysis Tree-Ring Data, Daniel Barandiaran, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. Justin Derose
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Snowpack observations in the Intermountain West are sparse and short, making them difficult for use in depicting past variability and extremes. This study presents a reconstruction of April 1 snow water equivalent (SWE) for the period of 1850–1989 using increment cores collected by the U.S. Forest Service, Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis program (FIA). In the state of Utah, SWE was reconstructed for 38 snow course locations using a combination of standardized tree-ring indices derived from both FIA increment cores and publicly available tree-ring chronologies. These individual reconstructions were then interpolated to a 4-km grid using an objective analysis …
Future Changes In Propagating And Non-Propagating Diurnal Rainfall Over East Asia, Wan-Ru Huang, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Future Changes In Propagating And Non-Propagating Diurnal Rainfall Over East Asia, Wan-Ru Huang, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The characteristics of diurnal rainfall in the East Asian continent consist of a propagating regime over the Yangtze River and a non-propagating regime in southeast China. Simulations of these two diurnal rainfall regimes by 18 CMIP5 models were evaluated from the historical experiment of 1981–2005. The evaluation led to the identification of one model, the CMCC-CM that replicated the key characteristics of diurnal rainfall regimes including the propagation of moisture convergence. Using the CMCC-CM to assess the future (2076–2100) change of diurnal evolution and propagation projected by the RCP4.5 experiment, it was found that propagating diurnal rainfall will enhance and …
Role Of The Strengthened El Nino Teleconnection In The May 2015 Floods Over The Southern Great Plains, S.-Y. Wang, W.-R. Huang, H.-H. Hsu, R. R. Gillies
Role Of The Strengthened El Nino Teleconnection In The May 2015 Floods Over The Southern Great Plains, S.-Y. Wang, W.-R. Huang, H.-H. Hsu, R. R. Gillies
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The climate anomalies leading to the May 2015 floods in Texas and Oklahoma were analyzed in the context of El Niño teleconnection in a warmer climate. A developing El Niño tends to increase late-spring precipitation in the southern Great Plains, and this effect has intensified since 1980. Anthropogenic global warming contributed to the physical processes that caused the persistent precipitation in May 2015: Warming in the tropical Pacific acted to strengthen the teleconnection toward North America, modification of zonal wave 5 circulation that deepened the stationary trough west of Texas, and enhanced Great Plains low-level southerlies increasing moisture supply from …
The 2011 Great Flood In Thailand: Climate Diagnostics And Implications From Climate Change, Parichart Promchote, S. -Y. Simon Wang, Paul G. Johnson
The 2011 Great Flood In Thailand: Climate Diagnostics And Implications From Climate Change, Parichart Promchote, S. -Y. Simon Wang, Paul G. Johnson
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Severe flooding occurred in Thailand during the 2011 summer season, which resulted in more than 800 deaths and affected 13.6 million people. The unprecedented nature of this flood in the Chao Phraya River basin (CPRB) was examined and compared with historical flood years. Climate diagnostics were conducted to understand the meteorological conditions and climate forcing that led to the magnitude and duration of this flood. Neither the monsoon rainfall nor the tropical cyclone frequency anomalies alone was sufficient to cause the 2011 flooding event. Instead, a series of abnormal conditions collectively contributed to the intensity of the 2011 flood: anomalously …
The North American Winter 'Dipole' And Extremes Activity: A Cmip5 Assessment, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Wan-Ru Huang, Jin-Ho Yoon
The North American Winter 'Dipole' And Extremes Activity: A Cmip5 Assessment, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Wan-Ru Huang, Jin-Ho Yoon
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The 2013–2014 winter in North America brought intense drought in the West and severe cold in the East. The circulation anomalies were characterized as a dipole: an amplified upper-level ridge over the West Coast and a deepened trough over the central-eastern United States. A previous study using a single model has linked the dipole to the El Niño precursor and found that this link has strengthened in recent years. Here, 17 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 are used to examine the dipole activity. Most models capture the dipole and its association with El Niño precursor and …
A Combined Dynamical And Statistical Downscaling Technique To Reduce Biases In Climate Projections: An Example For Winter Precipitation And Snowpack In The Western United States, R. Li, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. R. Gillies
A Combined Dynamical And Statistical Downscaling Technique To Reduce Biases In Climate Projections: An Example For Winter Precipitation And Snowpack In The Western United States, R. Li, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. R. Gillies
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Large biases associated with climate projections are problematic when it comes to their regional application in the assessment of water resources and ecosystems. Here, we demonstrate a method that can reduce systematic biases in regional climate projections. The global and regional climate models employed to demonstrate the technique are the Community Climate System Model (CCSM)and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The method first utilized a statistical regression technique and a global reanalysis dataset to correct biases in the CCSM-simulated variables (e.g., temperature, geopotential height, specific humidity, and winds) that are subsequently used to drive the WRF model. …
Decadal Oscillation Of Autumn Precipitation In Central Vietnam Modulated By The East Pacific-North Pacific (Ep-Np), R. Li, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. R. Gillies, B. Buckley, L. H. Troung, C. Cho
Decadal Oscillation Of Autumn Precipitation In Central Vietnam Modulated By The East Pacific-North Pacific (Ep-Np), R. Li, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. R. Gillies, B. Buckley, L. H. Troung, C. Cho
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Autumn precipitation over Central Vietnam is associated with an increase in the occurrence of tropical cyclones that lead to frequent flooding and pose a significant threat to lives and property. The present analyses reveal a pronounced decadal oscillation of autumn precipitation in Central Vietnam within the 8-11 year frequency band that is modulated by the East Pacific-North Pacific (EP-NP) teleconnection. The negative phase of the EP-NP pattern is associated with a positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly in the South China Sea (SCS) that induces low-level convergence, enhances convection, and increases precipitation over Central Vietnam and adjacent islands including Hainan …
Anthropogenic Footprint Of Climate Change In The June 2013 Northern India Flood, C. Cho, R. Li, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, J. -H. Yoon, R. R. Gillies
Anthropogenic Footprint Of Climate Change In The June 2013 Northern India Flood, C. Cho, R. Li, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, J. -H. Yoon, R. R. Gillies
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
During 13-17 June 2013, heavy rainfall occurred in the northern Indian state of 15 Uttarakhand and led to one of the worst floods in history and massive landslides, 16 resulting in more than 5,000 casualties and a huge loss of property. In this study, 17 meteorological and climatic conditions leading up to this rainfall event in 2013 and 18 similar cases were analyzed for the period of 1979-2012. Attribution analysis was 19 performed to identify the natural and anthropogenic influences on the climate anomalies 20 using the historical single-forcing experiments in the Coupled Model Intercomparison 21 Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). …
Observing The Quantumbehavior Of Light In An Undergraduate Laboratory, M. S. Neel, J. J. Thorn, V. W. Donato, G. S. Bergreen, Robert E. Davies, M. Beck
Observing The Quantumbehavior Of Light In An Undergraduate Laboratory, M. S. Neel, J. J. Thorn, V. W. Donato, G. S. Bergreen, Robert E. Davies, M. Beck
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
While the classical, wavelike behavior of light (interference and diffraction) has been easily observed in undergraduate laboratories for many years, explicit observation of the quantum nature of light (i.e., photons) is much more difficult. For example, while well-known phenomena such as the photoelectric effect and Compton scattering strongly suggest the existence of photons, they are not definitive proof of their existence. Here we present an experiment, suitable for an undergraduate laboratory, that unequivocally demonstrates the quantum nature of light. Spontaneously downconverted light is incident on a beamsplitter and the outputs are monitored with single-photon counting detectors. We observe a near …
Probable Causes Of The Abnormal Ridge Accompanying The 2013-14 California Drought: Enso Precursor And Anthropogenic Warming Footprint, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Probable Causes Of The Abnormal Ridge Accompanying The 2013-14 California Drought: Enso Precursor And Anthropogenic Warming Footprint, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The 2013–2014 California drought was initiated by an anomalous high-amplitude ridge system. The anomalous ridge was investigated using reanalysis data and the Community Earth System Model (CESM). It was found that the ridge emerged from continual sources of Rossby wave energy in the western North Pacific starting in late summer and subsequently intensified into winter. The ridge generated a surge of wave energy downwind and deepened further the trough over the northeast U.S., forming a dipole. The dipole and associated circulation pattern is not linked directly with either El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or Pacific Decadal Oscillation; instead, it is correlated …
Could The 2012 Drought In Central U. S. Have Been Anticipated?, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Danny Barandiaran, Kyle Hilburn, Paul Houser
Could The 2012 Drought In Central U. S. Have Been Anticipated?, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Danny Barandiaran, Kyle Hilburn, Paul Houser
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
This paper summarizes research related to the 2012 record drought in the central United States conducted by members of the NEWS (NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Energy and Water cycle Study) Working Group. Past drought patterns were analyzed for signal coherency with latest drought and the contribution of long-term trends in the Great Plains low-level jet, an important regional circulation feature of the spring rainy season in the Great Plains. Long-term changes in the seasonal transition from rainy spring into dry summer were also examined. Potential external forcing from radiative processes, soil-air interactions, and ocean teleconnections were assessed as …
Significant Impacts Of Radiation Physics In The Wrf Model On The Precipitation And Dynamics Of The West African Monsoon, R. Li, J. Jin, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. R. Gillies
Significant Impacts Of Radiation Physics In The Wrf Model On The Precipitation And Dynamics Of The West African Monsoon, R. Li, J. Jin, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. R. Gillies
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Precipitation from the West African Monsoon (WAM) provides food security and supports the economy in the region. As a consequence of the intrinsic complexities of the WAM’s evolution, accurate simulations of the WAM and its precipitation regime, through the application of regional climate models, are challenging. We used the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Community Land Model (CLM) to explore impacts of radiation physics on the precipitation and dynamics of the WAM. Our results indicate that the radiation physics schemes not only produce biases in radiation fluxes impacting radiative forcing, but more importantly, result in large bias in …
Coupling Of Pre-Monsoon Tropical Cyclones With The Monsoon Onset In Myanmar, B. O. Fosu, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Coupling Of Pre-Monsoon Tropical Cyclones With The Monsoon Onset In Myanmar, B. O. Fosu, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The pre-monsoon tropical cyclone (TC) activity and the monsoon evolution in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) are both influenced by the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO), but the two do not always occur in unison. This study examines the conditions that allow the MJO to modulate the monsoon onset in Myanmar and TC activity concurrently. Using the APHRODITE gridded precipitation and the ERA-Interim reanalysis datasets, composite evolutions of monsoon rainfall and TC genesis are constructed for the period of 1979–2010. It is found that the MJO exhibits a strong interannual variability in terms of phase and intensity, which in some years modulate …
Global Eastward Propagation Signals Associated With The 4-5-Year Enso Cycle, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, X. Jiang, B. Fosu
Global Eastward Propagation Signals Associated With The 4-5-Year Enso Cycle, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, X. Jiang, B. Fosu
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Longitude-time evolution of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) reveals a slow southeastward propagation from the western North Pacific (WNP) around 20°N to the Niño-3.4 region in the equatorial Central Pacific. The propagation is manifested as a narrow, southwest-northeast oriented SSTA band across the subtropical North Pacific, and its journey takes about 2–3 years. The propagating SSTA appears to engage the initiation of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The anomalies of surface winds, sea level pressure, outgoing longwave radiation, and velocity potential all exhibit a concurrent and distinct eastward propagation, one that appears to be circumglobal and is coupled with the …
Identification Of Extreme Precipitation Threat Across Midlatitude Regions Based On Short-Wave Circulations, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert E. Davies, Robert R. Gillies
Identification Of Extreme Precipitation Threat Across Midlatitude Regions Based On Short-Wave Circulations, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert E. Davies, Robert R. Gillies
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
The most severe thunderstorms, producing extreme precipitation, occur over subtropical and midlatitude regions. Atmospheric conditions conducive to organized, intense thunderstorms commonly involve the coupling of a low-level jet (LLJ) with a synoptic short wave. The midlatitude synoptic activity is frequently modulated by the circumglobal teleconnection (CGT), in which meridional gradients of the jet stream act as a guide for short Rossby waves. Previous research has linked extreme precipitation events with either the CGT or the LLJ but has not linked the two circulation features together. In this study, a circulation-based index was developed by combining (a) the degree of the …
Rayleigh Lidar Temperature Studies In The Upper Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Matthew T. Emerick
Rayleigh Lidar Temperature Studies In The Upper Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Matthew T. Emerick
Posters
Rayleigh lidar technology opened the middle atmosphere (from 30–90 km) to ground-based observations. The upgraded system at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) on the campus of Utah State University (41.74, 111.81) has shown that these ground-based observations can be extended to 109 km, with the goal of reaching 120 km. The resultant study of short and long-term temperature trends, using Rayleigh lidar, contributes immensely to the overall understanding of the properties and dominant physical processes in the middle atmosphere and Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere (MLT) region. Temperature variations on short time scales, from minutes to days, give insight into the effects of …
First Temperature Observations With The Usu Very Large Rayleigh Lidar: An Examination Of Mesopause Temperatures, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham, Lance W. Petersen, Matthew T. Emerick
First Temperature Observations With The Usu Very Large Rayleigh Lidar: An Examination Of Mesopause Temperatures, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham, Lance W. Petersen, Matthew T. Emerick
Posters
As the impetus for extended observational measurements throughout the middle atmosphere has increased1 , the limits of previous instrumentation need to be pushed. The Rayleigh lidar group at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) at Utah State University has pushed such limits on existing Rayleigh scatter lidar technology and, through major upgrades to the previous lidar system, has been able to gather temperature measurements in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere from approximately 70P109 km. A data campaign with the new system was conducted around the annual temperature minimum, centered on late June 2012, in this region. The temperatures from this …
Observational And Synoptic Analyses Of The Winter Precipitation Regime Change Over Utah, Robert R. Gillies, Shih-Yu Wang, Marty R. Booth
Observational And Synoptic Analyses Of The Winter Precipitation Regime Change Over Utah, Robert R. Gillies, Shih-Yu Wang, Marty R. Booth
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Previous studies have indicated a widespread decline in snowpack over Utah accompanied by a decline in the snow–precipitation ratio while anecdotal evidence claims have been put forward that measured changes in Utah’s snowpack are spurious and do not reflect actual change. Using two distinct lines of investigation, this paper further analyzes the winter precipitation regime in the state of Utah. First, by means of observation-based, gridded daily temperature, precipitation, and remotely sensed data, as well as utilizing a climatological rain–snow threshold (RST) temperature method, the precipitation regime of Utah was scrutinized. Second, a comprehensive synoptic analysis was conducted as an …
Upgraded Alo Rayleigh Lidar System And Its Improved Gravity Wave Measurements, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham
Upgraded Alo Rayleigh Lidar System And Its Improved Gravity Wave Measurements, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham
Graduate Student Posters
The Rayleigh-Scatter lidar system at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) on the Utah State campus is currently going through a series of upgrades to significantly improve its observational abilities. A specific objective of these upgrades is to expand the altitude range over which backscattered photons can be collected. A second objective is to increase the sensitivity of the instrument to be able to analyze the raw data at finer temporal and/or spatial resolutions. By measuring relative densities, the system will be able to produce absolute temperatures and relative density perturbations, which illustrate gravity wave structures. Gravity wave studies will significantly …
Observations With The Most Sensitive Rayleigh-Scatter Lidar, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham
Observations With The Most Sensitive Rayleigh-Scatter Lidar, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham
Graduate Student Posters
The mesosphere is the most unexplored region of the atmosphere. Its altitude range of 50-85 km lies in between the reaches of data collecting instruments like weather balloons and satellites. For this reason, remote sensing systems, such as lidar, which are able to employ ground-based instruments to make extensive measurements in this difficult to detect region. The Rayleigh-scatter lidar at USU is currently being redeveloped to be the most powerful and sensitive of its kind. This type of lidar exploits light and particle interactions, like those that account for the blue color of the sky, to make relative density and …
Connecting Subseasonal Movements Of The Winter Mean Ridge In Western North America To Inversion Climatology In Cache Valley, Utah, Shi-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert R. Gillies, Randy Martin, Robert E. Davies, Marty R. Booth
Connecting Subseasonal Movements Of The Winter Mean Ridge In Western North America To Inversion Climatology In Cache Valley, Utah, Shi-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert R. Gillies, Randy Martin, Robert E. Davies, Marty R. Booth
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
A 10-yr record of PM2.5 (particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm), collected in Cache Valley near downtown Logan, Utah, reveals a strong peak in the PM2.5 concentration climatology that is tightly localized in mid-January. The cause of this subseasonal variation in the PM2.5 climatology is investigated through dynamical downscaling and large-scale diagnostics. Climatological analysis of the U.S. winter mean ridge reveals a mid-January subseasonal shift in the zonal direction, likely in response to variations in the Rossby wave source over the central North Pacific Ocean. This displacement of the winter mean ridge, in turn, has an impact on …
Pakistan’S Two-Stage Monsoon And Links With The Recent Climate Change, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert Davies, Wan Ru Huang, Robert R. Gillies
Pakistan’S Two-Stage Monsoon And Links With The Recent Climate Change, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert Davies, Wan Ru Huang, Robert R. Gillies
Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications
Meteorological conditions related to the Pakistan floods of 2010 were examined in the context of monsoon dynamics and large‐scale circulations. Case and climatological analyses suggest that summer precipitation in northern Pakistan comprises two distinct phases: (1) a premonsoon trough phase (July) whose rainfall is more episodic and intense, occurring prior to arrival of the monsoon trough, and (2) a monsoon trough phase (August) whose rainfall is persistent, yet less episodic, driven by northward migration of the monsoon trough. Analyses of conditional instability, moisture flux, and circulation features support a persistent increase in conditional instability during the July premonsoon trough phase, …